If you are Randle, your day is full of content creation and all things social media. Keep reading to find out how Randle spends his time as a Digital Marketing Specialist.
Do you have any morning rituals before the start of the work day?
Truth be told, I’m not a morning person, so my morning ritual is making it to work on time! I usually start my day with a coffee and love on my dog, Riley, before heading out the door. On my drive into the office, I enjoy listening to different comedy and business-related podcasts.
Sometimes I’ll treat myself to a coffee at one of the local spots in Grapevine–Brew & Batter is one of my favorites. If I need something a little more substantial, I’ll stop in at Smoothie King for a protein smoothie.
When and how do you start your work day?
I usually start my workday around 8:45 beginning with all things social media. I check the various platforms to see if anyone has interacted with our accounts since the day prior. But as we all know, being a social media manager is a full time job, so I’ve developed a habit of checking our accounts outside of normal hours almost as if it’s my personal account.
It’s definitely a way bigger responsibility and takes a lot more work than most people think. Our most popular channel by far is LinkedIn, but it’s been fun to watch our audience grow across other platforms since I joined.
What's your typical day like at Venn?
After I review socials, I do an audit of what content still needs to be developed versus what is waiting on approvals. Our team uses Asana for prioritizing content deliverables, including social posts. The content and social pipelines in Asana really drives my priority in terms of what I’m working on that day. As far as content types, it ranges from videos to graphics to blog posts and more. Some of the other apps we use in marketing on a regular basis include:
- VEED - captioning and short form video editing
- Adobe Premiere Pro - long form video editing
- Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom - photo editing
- Canva - graphic design
- Asana - project management, including facilitating content prioritization and approvals
- HubSpot - scheduling social media posts, publishing content (ie. blog, email, or web pages), and measuring campaign performance
What is your favorite part of the job?
“My favorite part of the job is creating the “fun” content, especially when we’re showcasing the team and everyone’s favorite yeti, Bjørn Koding. We have so much internal humor that makes up our culture and who we are as a company.”
In particular, I’ve come to really enjoy the video editing process. iMovie was the extent of my experience before joining Venn, so it’s definitely been fun to learn and express my creativity that way. Ironically, YouTube videos have helped me learn a lot! The most fun I’ve had editing to date has to be the Venntober '22 series. I love Halloween and horror movies, so it gave me a chance to infuse some of my favorite things into the videos–from outlining the scripts to cutting them for our various social media channels.
Some of my other favorite campaigns or content pieces that I’ve worked on since joining the team are:
- Vennscreen: This campaign was inspired by a real-life sunbather outside of Venn headquarters. That gave life to the whole idea around not getting burned by bad integrations.
- Bjørn Gump: This concept for this video came to marketing from an internal marketing initiative called the “Vennovators Content Club,” where team members can submit content ideas to marketing. This one was one of my favorites because who doesn’t love a good parody?
- Hired: In this video series, we highlight new team members, asking them to speak about their onboarding experience and what they want to achieve in their role. It’s nice to make people feel welcomed and known to our clients and partners. Plus, it’s also a great way to show recruits what it’s like to work here.
What is the primary responsibility of a Digital Marketing Specialist?
I see my primary responsibility as showing people who we are and what we do in a unique, engaging way. I have the privilege of showing people what Venn is all about. Plus, the team makes it easy because everyone is on the same page.
“No matter what our primary function is within the business, we're all focused on the same mission of helping other businesses automate their processes.”
I don’t feel like I have to force myself to come up with content. Everyone collaborates well and we use a common language.
For the most part, my role is very digital-focused–ads, social, blog, and the website. It’s a good feeling knowing marketing is helping generate qualified opportunities for the sales team by making Venn known on the web and social media.
I’m really interested in learning more about best practices for search engine optimization (SEO). There’s a lot to learn in that space, and it has had a really positive impact on our marketing efforts to this point.
How do you break up the day?
Sometimes I’ll jump on the arcade game in the Bottlecap Lounge for some Dig Dug–my personal favorite. Or, if it’s a nice day, I’ll take my laptop outside and work from the picnic bench to get some sun. I’m also cognizant of raising my desk to stand and making sure I’m moving around. Office life has definitely been an adjustment since college.
Also, if I don’t pack my lunch then I usually default to an order of Chipotle or Cava. I think I’m big on bowls and fresh ingredients. More recently, I’ve started meal prepping and that’s been fun.
What is your favorite thing about working at Venn?
I feel very valued here, even though I’m fresh in my career. I feel comfortable sharing my opinion, and I’m given all the resources I need to do my job in the process.
“The leadership team does a good job of keeping lines of communication open and empowering me to do my job.”
My manager has really invested in me with training, mentorship, and experiences like attending HubSpot INBOUND. Since joining Venn, I’ve earned HubSpot and Semrush SEO certifications.
Melissa, Director of Marketing, and Randle attended the 2022 HubSpot INBOUND conference in Boston, Massachusetts.
The other thing I would add is that we have a relaxed, welcoming, and fun culture compared to other companies I came across in the interview process. Here, there seems to be a lot of respect for a work-life balance.
I should also mention that I love our yeti mascot, Bjørn. At first, I saw him as another company that has a mascot, but once I learned about the “Win a YETI from a Yeti” thing, I was sold. Genius!
What's one thing that surprised you since joining Venn?
One thing that surprised me the most since joining Venn is the amount of content we’ve come up with and executed against as a marketing team. I was surprised that I’m not lacking stuff to do. It helps that we have a culture of marketing and other team members (outside of our department) are excited to collaborate with us on new content.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I enjoy going to the gym after work. I also look forward to taking my dog to play frisbee. She’s a nut for that thing!
Randle and his dog, Riley, celebrating her seventh birthday.
I’m an Ole Miss Alum (Hotty Toddy!), so I also look forward to going to watch parties with my family during the football season.
On weekends, Randle and his family enjoy exploring new restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (outdoor patios & games are plus).
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